NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Thursday wrote to the two Trinamool Congress factions, one led by Mamata Banerjee and the other by Ritabrata Banerjee, regarding their claims and counter-claims with respect to the organisational elections and authorised signatories of the party.Sources in the EC told TOI that the two groups have been asked to submit their responses by 5.30 pm on July 26. Based on the responses, the EC will take a call on whether there is indeed a split in the party, warranting proceedings under Para 15 of the Symbols Order, 1968 to decide which of the two factions is the real party entitled to use the party name and election symbol.Usually, if a bypoll becomes imminent while a symbol dispute is pending, the EC passes an interim order freezing the disputed symbol. While EC announced assembly bypolls in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat on Thursday, it excluded the seats vacant in West Bengal — Nandigram and Rejinagar — for want of clarity on the status of election petitions (EP) filed with respect to the two seats. After the EP status is known, EC may announce the bypolls; if the Trinamool symbol dispute is being adjudicated at the time, the poll body may freeze the ‘two-flower’ symbol and ask each faction to choose a different symbol until the matter is disposed of. In a recent letter to the EC, Ritabrata Banerjee had claimed that his group is the “real Trinamool Congress”, commanding the support of 65 of the 80 party MLAs. The faction argued that the organisational elections were never held by the party within the three-year period mandated by Article 20 of the party constitution. The national working committee, having been elected last on February 12, 2022, thus became defunct after February 12, 2025, it said. The group further informed EC that it had recently held the organisational election and named the new office bearers. The details of the ‘elected’ national working committee members were recently shared with EC and a formal claim was made to the party name, twin-flower symbol and organisational assets. The group led by Mamata Banerjee disputed legitimacy of the rival faction’s actions and shared the list of new office bearers named by it in view of the exits from the party. It further claimed that only the authorised signatories of the party could represent the party before the EC. In a letter to the EC, the Mamata faction urged the poll body not to adjudge the dispute without hearing its arguments.The EC has now exchanged the contents and claims of each of the two factions, with the other and sought their responses before proceeding further in the matter. An EC official said the commission may also personally hear the factions, if requested.The 1971 verdict of the Supreme Court in the Sadiq Ali case lays down a three-test formula for deciding any symbol dispute. These include the test of adherence to the party’s aims and objects, test of the party constitution and the test of majority based on each faction’s organisational and legislative strength. Under the test of aims and objects of the party, the EC determines if either of the split groups deviated from the ‘aims and objects’ of the party. Test of party constitution requires the EC to confirm if the affairs of the party were being conducted as per the party constitution and reflect inner party democracy. The third and last test – test of majority – involves gauging the numerical strength of the faction in the legislative and organisational setup of the party.
